


After...

by TashanaAmbrosia



Series: With Two Hands [2]
Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, I want there to be an after, a moment between these two, angsty, kastle - Freeform, thruth of a phrase, what the silence invokes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 19:11:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12824163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TashanaAmbrosia/pseuds/TashanaAmbrosia
Summary: So after watching The Punisher and writhing in happy misery through all of the Kastle scenes. Two things really haunted me: the forehead touch and Karen’s “And then what...” speech. So here is some Kastle for you my lovelies. This is just a moment after the series. Slight spoilers if you haven’t seen The Punisher series.





	After...

 

 

**After...**

 

The flowers were out in her window. He noticed that flash of white and green against the dull brick of her building. He tried to lie to himself, convince himself that he hadn’t walked this way, just in case those flowers were on display, but he was full of bullshit. He wanted to see her, make sure she was alright. He hadn’t seen her since the elevator…the smell of her sweat, the feeling of her racing heart, and softness of her skin when they’d been pressed getting to and in that elevator.

“Take care.”  
…  _I want there to be an after._

He shouldn’t be anywhere near her right now, so raw from being at one of Curtis’s meetings. And who knows how long she’d had those flowers out. Had she placed them out there after Billy’s face got plastered all over the news? Before then? Had she been thinking of him when he was being tortured tied to that chair? When he was on that carousel? When he was holding Medina’s head against his thigh trying to keep her alive? When he found out his record had been wiped clean; been given a second chance. Third chance technically, he’d always thought of her in the hospital room with the picture of his family as a sort of second chance.  
_…I want there to be an after._

He shouldn’t be crossing the street, walking up the steps, or holding the door for someone living in the building. It felt odd to be able to walk in public without his head down or slinking into the shadows, but he could now. Legally he was a free man.  
_… I want there to be an after._

He rounded the corner and paced up to her door, but couldn’t bring himself to knock. What if she didn’t want him here? There was a big difference between her helping him get out of that elevator alive and her wanting him in her space. He thought about Sarah kissing him and the signals that she’d misread; had he done the same thing with Karen? He wasn’t someone that she should’ve ever let into her life, but she had.  
_…I want there to be an after._

He tapped his knuckles against her door and her voice called out that she was coming. What was he going to say? He should leave. He should walk away before she got to the door. Escape before that door opened.  
_… I want there to be an after._

She opened the door and for a moment just stared at him. Her blue eyes filled with tears and she threw her arms around his shoulders pulling him to her. She hugged him fiercely as if she was afraid he was going to disappear, “Oh my God, Frank.” 

“Ma'am.” It was all he could manage  
_… I want there to be an after._

“Are you alright? Are you hurt? What are you doing here?” Her slew of questions came out in a rush as she walked them backwards into her apartment.

The door closed behind them. The apartment smelled of coffee and spicy take-out, but more overpowering was the smell of her. She smelled sweet from her body lotion and there was something flowery in her hair. 

“Frank, are you alright?” She moved a little away from him, brushing her hand over his forehead as she started looking for injuries. “Frank?”   
_…I want there to be an after._

He pushed back into her space. He gripped her the back of her arms and pressed his forehead to hers. He kept still, tasting her breath as the deafening silence invaded his ears.  
_… I want there to be an after._

“Frank, it’s o…”   
_… I want there to be an after for you._

“Karen, I’m afraid of after.” His voice cracked at the confession.

She pulled his face down to the crook of her neck as he started to shake. “I know, Frank, I know.”


End file.
